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{ / I«IR. r. JOHNSON, or 3I3NTUCICY. 

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The following rc=«i.it;nt%, ovbuiincu uy ttie itmi. i*fi. aaunoers, of Nortli 
tiarolina. beinK under consid<iration 

" Rcsblved. Tliat the Secretal-y of State communicate to this House a list ot 
cat h newspaper, in each ot the States, in wh.ch tliC laws of Coiigress were direct- 
ed 10 be piibhsiied in the years 1825 and 1826; also, a list of such in whicli the 
laws are directed to be pubh^hed in 1827, designating the changes which have 
feeen made, and the causes for each change." 

Mr. F. Johnson, of Kentucky, rose and addressed the House, as follows: 
The j»entleniau who moved this resolution will do me the justice to say- 
that I apprized him of my intention to offer some remarks to the House, on 
this subject, and proposed to him the opportunity of replying, but he prefer- 
red, after obtaining the floor, to conclude his observations. No gentleman 
can, more than myself, regret the consumption of the time of this House ; 
and if the gentlemen had confined themselves to the mere question of the 
resolution, the debate would have been comprised within a very narrow 
compass, and could have occupied but a very short time : but, they have in- 
dulged in^a very extensive range of debate, and they could not expect, after 
such a course of impeachment and denunciation of the President, Secretary 
of State, and the Administration, for the friends of those persons and of the 
Administration, to remain silent and let their imputations and mirepresent- 
ations go to the world without being exposed and refuted; 

I shall not expand the debate by following the example set by the advo- 
cates of the resolution, though it has always been considered as perfectly fair, 
when two candidates are before the people, and one of them is abused hy 
the friends of the other, for the friends of that other to point to the faults df 
his adversary. I shall not enter upon such a course ; but I can say, and I 
will say, that the public life and the public conduct of the candidate of the 
gentlemen in the opposition, is as obnoxious to as many charges, to say the 
least, as the President and the Secretary of State. 

What is the resolution ? It calls on the Secretary to report the number 
of changes which have been made in dc:iignating newspapers to print the 
laws of the United States, and the reasons or causa for each change. 

The law as read by the mover of the resolution himself, makes it the 
duty of the Secretary of State to cause the laws of Congress to be 
published, in not exceeding three newspapers, in each State and Terri 
tory, and one in the District of Co!itT*il)i3. it Jjias not decla'-ed how, or in »yhT> 



vE^T^ 



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fnanner, he shall do it. The law has imposed it on his discretion. The reso- 
lution assumes the fact that the law has been duly executed, and then calls 
lor causes why he did so execute it. If the question had been so left, without 
going into an argument at large, and preferring the charge of guiity against 
the Secretary, each member would have put the question to himself, is it 
proper to call on an officer for the causes or 7'easons why he exercised the 
discretion imposed on him ? Even then each member would have answered 
in the negative. If an officer or individual has performed the duties requir- 
ed of him by law, it is all that, in reason, can be asked of him. 

But, Sir, the propriety of the call for reasons or causes why he has exe- 
cuted the law, according to tho vllsi-n-tlon whif-h thc law itsclf hail imposed 

upon him, becomes much more questionable and more objectionable wher» 
that call is aocompanied with the declaration of the gentleman from North 
Carolina (Mr. Saunders) the mover of the resolution, that the Secretary ol 
State IS guilty of making changes for personal and political purposes. His 
tleclaration goes to the world with the resolution; they both go together, 
and must be taken together in forming a correct decision. Although that 
honourable member has, in his concluding remarks, disclaimed all charge 
of corruption against the Secretary, or any intention of making such a charge, 
yet when such stress was laid by him in his iirst speech on the words 
"guilty of personal and political purposes,"it certainly imported criminality, 
and, therefore, in my judgment, rendered the call for " causes" more ex- 
ceptionable. Is it proper P Has such a thing ever been known in this Coun- 
try, to call on the accused to give evidence either for or against himself? 
Is not such a proceeding going beyond all practice, beyond all precedent .'' 

The Secretary, I have no doubt, has the best reasons for what he has 
done. He requires no defence for his reasons or causes. It is principle 
that we defend. It is the precedent which will be set that I object to. 
Such a proceeding might be admirably well adapted to the Spanish Inqui- 
sition, but it will not do in our Country. But the gentleman from North 
Carolina (Mr. Saunders) has read us a resolution, introduced into the House, 
some years since, by Mr. Cook. That, Sir, is a very different case. It 
forms no precedent. If he had taken the trouble to examine the act, estab- 
lishing the Bank of the Uuited States, he would have seen the grounds upon 
which that resolution was introduced. It is the IGth section, and reads as 
follows: — " And be it further enacted, That the deposites of the money of 
the United States, in the places in which the said Bank, and Branches there- 
of, may be established, shall be made in said Bank, or Branches thereof, 
unless the Secretary of the Treasury shall, at any time, otherwise order and 
direct, in which case the Secretary of the Treasury shall immediately lay 
before Congress, if in session, aixl if not, immediately after the commence- 
ment of the next session, the reason of such order or direction." 

From this law we find that Congress ordered the public money to be de- 
posited in the Bank of the United States or its Branches ; but allowed to 
the Secretary of the Treasury a discretionary power, of depositing ic else- 
where, provided, he gave his reasons for it; which reasons he was bound to 



Sive without any call upon him by resolution ov otherwise ; the law made it 
his duty to give his reasons immediately it" (Congress were in session, or as 
soon as it should be in session. In the case before us, the duty assigned to 
he Secretary of State, in having the laws published, was altogether imposed 
on his discretion, as to what papers he should designate. If it had said he 
should publish in such and such papers, as that law said the Secretary of the 
Treasury should deposite in such Bank or its Branches ; and if he had had 
the laws published in other papers he should report the reasons or causes, 
then the cases would be more alike. In that case you called for what the 
law required to be done — in this case you call for what the Uiw never con 

templatfll and thprp the analogj- fails, and tUo proc/><^lf»r>t doco not bear the 

gentleman out. 

The gentleman admits in his argument that the Secretary has caused the 
laws to be published, according to the act of Congress, but contends that the 
intention of the law lus been violated. Upon the propriety of Congress ex 
pounding its own laws, I will read part of a report made by a Committee 
of this House, composed of some of its ablest members. Among them war. 
that excellent and great man Mr. Lowndes, and the gentleman from Del- 
ware (Mr. M'Lane;) the others I do not, at this time, recollect. 

By the laws of Congress the Secretary of the Treasury is authorised to 
have the Land Offices examined, to see that the accounts are properly kept, 
that the moneys are secure, and that all things relating to them are conduct- 
ed rightly. 

The case I allude to is the cue of the hon. Jesse B. Thomas, a Senator 
from lUinois. It was believed that the employment of a member of the 
Senate, and his receiving pay for his services on public business, was a 
violation of the law and the Constitution. A Committee was appointed to in- 
vestigate the subject, to ascertain the employment of Mr. Thomas, and what 
he received for the services he rendered, and whether the law had been 
violated, &c. Upon the power and propriety of this House expounding its 
laws; the report says, "although the Committee admit the power and ju- 
risdiction of the House of Representatives to guard the purity of our institu,- 
tions from violation, which it is the peculiar province of Congress or of the 
people to punish or remedy. They cannot recognise either its justice or 
dignity in conducting exparte investigations into breaches of highly penal 
statutes, and the commission of misdemeanors amenable by the laws to a 
different tribunal. Such precedents might lead, in worse times, to conse- 
quences of a ruinous and most troublesome character. They might be used 
to authorize Congress to become the expositors of their own laws, or im- 
properly to throw the weight of their opinion into the legitimate tribunals. 
They would be very apt to be seized upon to produce public excitement, 
and be perverted to the purposes of ambitious men and individual resent- 
ments." 

LTpon that occasion, the Committee thought it was going too far, to become 
the ' expositors' of our own acts — that we were not the proper tribunal, to 



arraign, try and decide, whether an officer had violated the intention of the 
Law. In that case, too, others, or another, had been employed to make 
the same examination of the same offices previous to the employment of 
Mr. Thomas — and although party feelings ran pretty high then, yet no one 
ever thought of calling on iVIr. Crawford for his reasons or causes for the 
change which he had made in the persons to examine those offices. — No, 
Sir ; such an idea never entered into the mind of any one. 

The gentleman seemed to be sensible of the absurdities into which the 
doctrine of calling for reasons or causes, would involve him, and to extricate 
himself, he has spoken of a distinction between powers granted by the 
Constitution and tnose given by Law. 

But that difference proves nothing for his side. We have the same right 
to call on all the Heads of Departments, and every other officer, not even 
excepting the President, for causes and reasons as we have to call on the 
Secretary of State. I remember some days ago, the Delegate from Floi'ida, 
hitroduced a resolution calling on the Secretary of War for in formation in 
relation to Pensacola, and at the end of it called for his reasons or opinions 
about something in relation to the subject. Some member rose and said, 
we want facts to act on, and not reasons and opinions, and moved to strike 
that part from the resolution, and it was stricken out. 

The Constitution has very wisely defined the powers of the different 
branches of the Government — and no co-ordinate department of the Gov- 
ernment, can or ought to encroach upon the prerogatives or powers of the 
other. Any attempt of the kind, tends to weaken and sap the foundations 
of our institutions. — But powers delegated, or duties assigned by the Laws 
of Congress, to the President, the Heads of Departments, the Judiciary o'^ 
any other officer, or an individual, may be taken away by Congress. All 
such acts come within the repp^i'ng pnwpvs pf Congress, and they may be 
repealed, either because it may be thought expedient or necessary to do so 
— or because the power or authority conferred has been abused or improp- 
erly exercised, or for any other reason ; and Congress had the right to 
delegate the pov.er of designating who should print the ?Laws to any other 
person as well as to the Secretary of State. I believe there is not a session, 
but some act passes imposing some duty on the President; and why may 
we not call on him too for reasons and causes ? Both duties are imposed by 
Law — and why not, theix, call on the President for the causes why he 
chan^ed,'Gen. Swift, and appointed another to the office he held ? We might 
as well have called on Mr. Monroe for the causes why he again nominated 
certain persons to office, who had been rejected by the Senate. These 
offices were<created by Law, which gave the President the right to appoints 
Just the same right exists to call on individuals for reasons and causes for 
executing according to Law, delegated powers. The thing seems absurd. — 
But the gentleman admits that the President may appoint his friends or any 
one, and tliat he cannot be required to give the reasons or causes for doing 
j^o.-rAnd I contend it is just as true in the case of the Secretary of State, Of 



d 

&ny other officer, whose discretion is not controlled by the Law givhig the 
power to appoint. 

But the gentleman from Tennessee, (Mr. Polk) says if the Secretary has 
sufficient reasons, let him answer and shew that he is IniyDcent. The answer 
to that will be found in the want of the right to demand his reasons, and they 
ought first to show that he has done some thing wrong.before they talk of call- 
ing on him to prove his innocence. The report of theCommittce of the House 
in the case, I have just read an extract from, says that it is not consistent with 
the practice and dignity of this House to ask for what it has no right to re- 
quire, nor power- to punish ; that the example might lead to others, and 
might be employed by ambitious men folr t>aci purpuses. If gentlemen arc 
dissatisfied with the Law or the execution of it, let them iTpeal it — and the 
authoritv of the Secretary to designate the publishers of the Laws will then 
be at an end. The honourable mover of the resolution says he is satisfied. 
None of the gentlemen on the other side want any evidence ; they are all 
satisfied that the Law ought to be repealed ; they have made up their opin- 
ions. We, too, are satisfied and have made up our opinions. Wherefore, 
then, the necessity of calling on the Secretary, or any body else, for causes 
or reasons ? Why not submit a proposition at once to repeal the Law •• But 
on my side of the question the opinion is that the Secretary has done right. 
But the gentlemen seemed to be aware that there were causes and reasons 
which would render changes not only proper but indispensable. — If there 
had not been, why did they find it necessary to leave the subject and enter 
upon criminating the Secretary ? Was it their object to assail the Secretary, 
or to repeal the Law ? But I will not enter into their motives, they are all 
honourable men. 

But there are causes other than those ascribed to the Secretary which may 
be sufficient to iuduuc ana rondpr rhnnge* nprpssary. such, for insiance, as the 
change of names and owners of papers — the discontinuance of papers — The 
appearance of new Journals better calculated to diffuse the Laws — new Jour- 
nals in parts of the country, where there were none before — Geographical 
considerations. — All these or some of them, make changes necessary every 
year. 

In Alibama, the paper published at Cahawba, then the seat of Govern- 
ment, published the Laws. The seat of Government has recently been 
removed to Tuscaloosa, the paper at Cahawba has been discontinued, and 
the Secretary has appointed a paper at Tuscaloosa to publish the Laws. In 
Louisiana.thcre were two papers in one Congressional District that published 
the Laws; the Secretary has changed the publishing the Laws from one 
of these printers to a paper in tlie district, which was without ; so that now, 
there is one paper in each of the three Congressional districts in that state, 
that publishes the Laws — In Maryland, one paper in the Eastern Shore Coun- 
try, one at Annapolis and one in Baltimore, had the public printing. — The 
western part of the State, though very populous, and in which many papers 
were published, that are principally read in that part of the State, was 
without the publication of the Laws. The Secretary continued the paper 



in the Eastern Shore, and in Baltimore, and changed the olher to Frederick- 
town — In New York, it has been changed from Batavia to Rochester, the 
most considerable and populous place in western New York. In Virginia 
it has been changed from Clarksburg to Charleston — These last four chan- 
ges were from one friend to another of the administration — In Indiana, the 
public printing has been changed from Vincennes, up above, into a new and 
populously settled part of the State. 

These cases I know of; how many more have been changed for causes of 
a similar character, I know not, and I presume the gentlemen will hardly 
say that these changes were for personal or political purposes alone. I 
have mentioned thesp caspe, to thcw, that causrs occur cvery year which 
render it proper that changes should be made. That changes are of ordi- 
nary occurrence, of necessary occurrence — that changes are neither rai'e 
nor strange, and that there is nothing in the mere circumstance of a change 
to call for reason or causes, ought to have occurred to the gentlemen, who 
have advocated the call for causes, and therefore, their accusations and 
cwminations of the Secretary are gratuitous and uncalled for by the occa- 
sion. 

The gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Saunders) told us, in the outset, 
tl'.at this subject was before the Senate last session, that it was in abler 
hands than his ; but he had now brought it here. I believe he is right, that 
it was introduced into the Senate at the last session — and I believe that a 
long and laboui'ed repoi-t was made upon the subject of patronage, accompa- 
nied by 6 bills, and that 6,000 extra copies of that report and the bills were 
printed at public expense, and distributed among the good people of these 
United States, and that these bills, I do also believe, have never yet been 
acted upon. But whether the object was really to pass the bills or to pro- 
duce political effect, I shall leave to others to detprmine. 

The gentleman, however, in introducing the subject into this House has 
disclaimed all design or intention of political effect. It seemed that; some- 
thing pressed on his mind, that rendered it necessary to rebut the charge, 
before it was made, and really, if the gentleman did not intend any political 
effect, and I am not inclined to doubt his word, yet he has taken a course 
that will at least excite suspicion that such was the object. 

The next subject that calls for my attention, is the complaints of the gen- 
tleman from North Cai-olina (Mr. Saunders.) He brings no complaints 
from his own State ; every thing there is right— no disturbance among 
printers there — and he is compelled to go into other States to find fault with 
what is done. I believe. Sir, there is no State in this Union but what is re- 
presented on this floor, and ably enough too; and that the members of each 
State are quite competent to present their own grievances and complaints; 
and how much they may feel themselves indebted for his guardian care 
over their affairs, I know not. The gentleman is kind' enough to travel 
into my State, too, to bring forth complaints. Yes, Sir, he goes into the Sec- 
retary's own State to hunt up charges against him. He truly " carries the 
war into the enemies country." I will not object to the gentleman's course 



He is welcome to all the benefits he can reap. He introduces the case ol 
the Argus of Western America, printed at Frankfort, in Kentucky, and 
before I proceed, one word to my colleague (Mr. Wickliffe.) The gentle- 
man from Ohio (Mr. Wright) in reply to the charge about this paper, men- 
tioned the circumstance of the I-egislature having taken from it the public 
printing. My colleague (Mr. W.) although declining all part in the debate, 
thought himself called upon to rise ; and hov/ever he may have felt, I 
thought, seemed apprehensive that that circumstance might be held by 
some a sufficient justification for the Secretary having changed the printing 
to the Coimxientator, and for fear it should, and to remove all doubt on the 

subject — no, he was not willing tn Uuvo a Innyt m hang a doubt upon — 

after some account of the controversies of the relief and anti-relief parties, 
all which I hope are now finally settled, and all disputes, upon that subject, 
consigned to the tomb of forgetfulness, — he stated broadly and confidently 
that the Secretary of State, with a full knowledge, yes. Sir, with a full 
knowledge, that the public printing had been taken away by the Legisla- 
ture from the Argus, appointed that paper to publish the laws of the Uni- 
ted States. My colleague is mistaken in the fact — and it seems to me, if he 
had suifered himself to reflect upon the subject, he might have recollected 
circumstances that would have convinced him of his erronr. He and I left 
Frankfort together in the month of November. The Legislature was then 
in session ; we arrived here a day or two before Congress met. He has 
been a member of the Legislature — and it is not usual for the public printer 
to be elected before about the last week of the session. The session did not 
end till about the 20th of December. The Secretary generally makes the 
appointments before, or at the commencement of the session of Congress. 
1 state the fact positively and unequivocally — that, if the Argus was not de- 
signated by the Spcretiry to Dublish the laws of the United States before 
the State printing was removed by the Legislature of the State, tlut the 
appointment was made before it was known here that it was removed. I do 
not, any more than the gentlemen from Ohio, rely upon that circumstance 
to justify the change; but it is proper that facts, when presented, should be 
presented truly. 

Gentlemen have said much in regard to this paper. They have been 
profuse in their charges to 'influence and gag this press. — Let us see what 
the Fditor himself says, for ir gentlemen do not know, I do, that he is able 
and competent to speak for hi-i>self. — Hear whiit he says — " The only regret 
we ever fu;lt in opposing M.". Adams, was on Mr. Clay's account. The wri- 
ter of this felt like one of tha'. geatlem^sn's family, and that it will be almost 
petty treason to thwart his hopes. T jr he new f: /l^ like one turned out of 
doors, and absolved from every family tie. Although it will not induce him 
to change his course, it will enable him to run that course with more alacrity 
and less restraint," 

Now, Sir, how does this comport with the arguments of the gentlemen ? 
They complain of gagging aud muzzling presses. — This Editor, bv 'lot get- 
•ng the public printing, sa^s he can rsn his course with rnqr? " alacrity and 



d 

less i-estraint," According to the Editor, the Secretary has taken off th.' 
gag and unmuzzled the press— and left him free to pursue his own course— It 
is surely the very thing they wanted. Yet they complain— they complain of 
gagging and muzzling their presses ; and when the gag and muzzling arc 
taken off, they still complain, and complain they will * — If the Scretary was 
to do as they say they wish, appoint the opposition prints to publish the 
Laws and it would have the influence they say it would have, of controlling 
their presses; then, indeed, they would ha\e more cause of complaint — and 
because he appoints printers friendly to the administration, and leaves theirs 
free from restraint — they still complain. Into what inconsistences do such 
arguments involve them ? One fact more in regard to the Argus. — It is 
well known, that that print abuses and vilifies the President, and at the same 
time praisfes the Secretary ! I think the gentleman from ■ North Carolina 
(Mr. S.) might have remembered, that durmg Mr. Monroe's Administration 
the Washington Gazette vvas employed by Mr. Crawford, then Secretary of 
theTreasury, to do public printing. That paper commenced abusing Mr.Mon- 
roe, and a member of the Cabinet. Mr. Crawford thought as an Honoura- 
ble man, thai he ought not to employ or patronize a paper, that abused the 
President and one of the Cabinet, with whom he acted, while the same paper 
praised him ; and he took away the public printing and gave it to another ; 
and would the gentleman, have the Secretary of State to act less honourably, 
than his friend Mr. Crawford ? Surely not. How could Mr. Clay or any 
other Head of a Department patronize a paper which was constantly abus- 
ing and misrepresenting the motives and acts of the President and was as 
constantly praising himself? He could not and ought not to do it. 

The next paper complained of, is the New Hampshire Patriot. I can but 
admire the sympathy, which the gentleman has shown for the doleful com- 
plaints of this complaining Editor, whose doleful dittips are. copied into a 
certain other paper. Now, Sir, what is the loss these papers sustain ? The 
whole amount of the printing of the Laws of the last session, which was a 
long session, it appears is about §95 — and the United States pays about one- 
third of the price, according to the woik done, that individuals pay who 
have advertisements inserted. So that after all, what does the patronage 
amount to .* It is no gift. No Sir ; so far from it, every printer who publishes 
the Laws, has to do three times as much work for the United States for 
the same money, as he does for individuals. This I am told by respectable 
printers. Every printer, then, who publishes the Laws, pays value receiv- 
ed for the money he gets— and surely the labourer is worthy of his hire. — 
But it is said the New Hampshire Patriot has 4000 subscribers, and, there- 
fore, ought to have the public printing. I cannot credit the account of his 
having that many. The National Intelligencer scarcely exceeds that num- 
ber — and I should incline to believe it had more subscribers than any other 
paper in the Union. 

But, Sir, suppose it has 4000 ; is that any evidence, that it is entitled to 
thft printing. Its circulation may be confined more in its immediate vicinity 



ar extended into other States. If the greater number of subscribers Werfe tfa- 
be the rule, the publishing of the laws would be confined to th. city of 
N\;.v York in that Slate, to Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, and to Baltimore in 
3Vl..ryiand ; for I very much suspect that three papers may be found in each 
of these cities, that have each a greater number of subscribers, than any- 
paper in the country, and so in regard to other cities in other States. I am 
pretty well satisfied that accoi-ding to this rule, Louisville would come in for 
a siiare of the printing in Kentuck\ , and it is likely, that a good part of the 
subsi nbcrs to the papers there live in Indiana ; Cincinnati, too, would proba- 
bl> get all the public printing allowed to Ohio, and who does not know, that to 
confine the publication to one place, would not be doing as much justice to 
the promulgation of the laws, as to suflftr geographical consideration to have 
their influence. — I hold in my hand the paper which was designated in liea 
ofthf Patriot. This paper publishes the laws of the Slate too ; it is as large 
and looks as well as the Patriot — and I can see no reason for gentlemen from 
other States complaining of the change. As it regards the Argus of Maitie 
I know nothing, No member from that State has complained. 

As it regards the National Intelligencer, my colleague (Mr. Letcher) 
has sufficiently answered that; but I will notice one remark which the getv- 
tleman from North Carolina made. It is this ; he said it was taken away as 
a punishment to the Editors of that paper. Now I should suppose he ought 
to liave known the Editors of tliat paper better, than to talk of a yearly job of 
g95 — having been given to another paper, as a punishment to them. Why, 
Sir, §95 would not pay more than half of any one day's expense of that es- 
tablishment, during the sitting of Congress. If the Editors of the Intelli- 
gencer could have been moved by pecuniary considerations, they probably 
would not have so earnestly and so devotedly adhered to the cause of Mr. 
Crawford, when his friends in this House amounted to not more, if asma- 
nVi as one third of its members; ana upon \.u\a llv^n at depends the patronage 
of the public printing — a patronage of thousands. He wrongs them, and him- 
self too, when he supposes a patronage of g95 a year, for which they have 
to render value received, could operate as a punishment on them, or that 
the Secretary could have looked to any such consequence or eflect. But 
the gentleman was at a loss for some motive to ascribe to the Secretary, and 
finding no better, he was obliged to be content with that. 

As it regards the Nashville Republican, which the gentleman from Ten- 
nessee (Mr. Houston) has added to the list of complaining Editors. Ho 
tells us, that when he came on here last full twelve months, he wrote to the 
Secretary of State, requesting he would appoint that paper to publish the 
laws ; that he received for answer, that another paper had been designated. 
I did not understand the gentleman to siv, that the paper which was ap- 
pointed had not a more extended circuUtion, than the one he recommended- 
But his complaint was, that the job was not given to the papef that wa& 
against the Administration, and the one appointed was not opposed to it. 
Sir, i happen to know iwmething about this Nashville Republican ; about 
the time, or a little after, it was ascertained in Nashville, that the PresHrtr^ 



3 



tial Election was thrown into this House, and that Mr. Clay was excludedl, 
and when the friends of General Jackson made quite certain of his election 
to the Presidency, an editorial article appeared in that paper, denouncing. 
Mr. Clay and his friends. Had it stopped tbere, it would have been no more 
than I expected; but there was one sentence in it, which I shall never forget; 
it was to this effect, " how can the people oi Kentucky ever expect to be for- 
given, for having supported Henry Ctay in the first instance, in preference 
to the Hero.'* Here, Sir, was a broad and before=hand denunciation of my 
Stale, and my -fellow-citizens generally. The friends of the General were 
then sure of the power, and Kentucky was to be the first victinri, fw having 
dared to support " Henry Clay, in the first instance, in preference to the 
Hero." Ever since the election, this same paper has continued to abuse the 
President and the Secretary of State, to ascribe to them any thmg but honest 
acts; and could it be reasonably supposed, that the Secretary of State would 
have selected this paper in preference to a better ? Surely not. To have 
appointed that paper might have been construed into an approbation of its 
slander and abuse. Sir, let us look at this thing of employing printers to 
publish the laws, who are contmually abasing and misrepresenting the acts 
and motives of the Government. In one column you find the laWs published; 
in a parallel column, you find the President and all the Officers of the Gov- 
lernment charged with corruption, their motives impeached, their acts mis- 
represented, and themselves abused and vilified. Does it not tend to destroy 
the moral force oi the laws, and the moral obligation to obey the m; does 
ft not tend to lessen the esteem and veneration of the people for the Authori- 
ties which they themselves have constituted, and which are necessary to the 
security of all their rights and the promotion of their happiness? Its inevitable 
tendency is to lessen the moral obligation of the laws, to put at defiance and 
fohold in contempt the constituted Authorities of the Country. It goes fur- 
ther; it has a tciiUency to Dring our Institutions into disrepute among our- 
selves, to render the people discontented, and prepare them for changes, 
from a Constitutional Government, a Government of laws, enacted by them- 
selves, through their Representatives, to some other sort of Government^ 
Such are the means resorted to in all Republics to produce revolution^ 
Find fault, charge corruption on the best patriots in the Country, especially 
if they are in office, make the people believe they have no political integrity; 
condemn every thing right or wrong ; find fault with the Constitution, with 
the laws, with every thing ; render the people distrustful of the only men 
who can or ought to be trusted ; then is the time for the ambitious and the 
«inprincipled to triumph over the Constitution and the laws — then the value 
of free Institutions is forgotten ; the moral force of the Country is paralyzed; 
Ihe way is prepared for some bold and daring spirit to " ride upon the whirl- 
wind and direct the storm." It is therefore wrong, upon principle, to em^ 
ploy those to promulgate the laws and acts of the Government, who are in 
parallel columns, as it were, by continued abuse, slander, and misrepresent-- 
ations, endeavouring to destroy all moral obligation, all obedience to th» 
Sliwi*, all political integrity, and private virtue. Sir, the oountenanse of slau*-- 



11 

defers, tmich more the support of them, is a bad example in society, and 
such an example that our (iovernraent, which is founded on pubhc senti- 
ment, and moral and political integrity, ought never to set, and it was froia 
considerations of this kind, I am inclined to believe, that Mr. Jefferson was 
Induced never to appoint to office, or employ in public aff.iirs, the enemies 
of his Administration, who were contmually clamouring against him and 
his acts, and thereby, undermining the moral feeling and obligations, to sup- 
port the institutions of our Country. 

I am nor opposed to a fair, open, and candid opposition to any Adminis- 
istrafion: but I am opposed to an abusive, indiscriminate fault-finding, and 
vindictive opposition. To oppose, on principle, the acts of any Administra- 
tion, which may be believed to be wrong, is one thing, and to abuse and vil- 
ify, and misrepresent acts and motives, is a very different thing ; the one is 
morally right, and the other is morally wrong. 

We are told. Sir, by the gentlemen in the opposition, and I shall be par- 
doned for using the word *' opposition," after the open avowal of the gentle- 
man from New York, (Mr. Cambreleng) made on this floor, we are told by 
them that printers can be corrupted and converted into venal instruments- 
yes, and it may be done, by just giving them a job of work, to the amount ot 
g95 a year ! Sir, I have known many highly respectable men that were 
publishers of newspapers, men that I have taken pride in calling my friendsi 
whom the best men in the Country have owned aa friends. Franklin was a 
printer. But, I admit, that in all professions there may be some shabby 
afieefi, and that there are, in the profession alluded to, we have abundant 
evidence of it every day; and it" it has been the lot of the gentlemen to ass(» 
ciate with the shabby of the calling, it is not my fault. 

The charge against the Secretary is the attempt to subsidize eighty-two 
presses. Gentlemen might as well, if numbers were at consequence, liavf 
confined themselves to the true number of papers which can be employed 
to publish the laws. There are twenty -four States. Three papers to 9 
State, makes seventy-two. One in this District, makes seventy three. 

But a gentleman near me, says there are three Territories, — and three 
papers are allowed in each. I know it. There is, however, but one paper 
printed in Arkansas. But the charge is the control of presses, to influence 
the Presidential Election. What have Territories to do with the electioQ 
of a President ? They have no vote nor voice in the question ; and they, 
therefore, do not belong to the subject. But it is matter of no consequence. 
We deny the fact of subsidizing or controlling any press. 

But, Sir, let us look at this patronage, in another point of view. Tbree 
presses in each State, and one in this District, publish the Laws. In 182'4, 
according to a report of the Post-master General, there were five hundred 
and ninety-eight papers, printed in the United States, of which he had 
received returns at his office. There were perhaps some few he had no 
account of— he supposes so in the report. In New York there were then 
one hundred and thirty-seven. By a late account there are now one hundred 
—1 fartv-nine ; in Pennsylvania, there were one hundred and tpn • Virorini. 



1@ 

tbirty-five ; Ohio, forty-eight ! Kentucky, eighteen , New Jersey,- eighteeni 
Connecticut, twenty-three ; Massachusetts, iliirt) -five ; Indiana, twelve; and, 
a short time ago, theie were in one Congressional District in ihe latter State, 
seven papers. In Kentucky there are now upwards of twenty, and the 
number now of all, probably amounts to between six and seven hundred — 
What a monstrous, and tremcndoub patronage this is, if we listen to the 
gentlemen on the other side ! According to their account, three newspapers 
in each State are going to be " corrupted," and when "converted into venal 
instruments," they are to overturn every thhig ! But, Sir, when we compare 
tliretf presses to one hundred and fort> -nine, or to one hundred and ten, or to 
fifty, or thirty, or iwenty , the whole argument dwindles down to nothing — it 
loses all its force, and becomes ridiculous, especially when the prmters 
employed render value, full value, for the money they get, which is shown 
to be not more than S95 a year ; and some years not that, for the pay 
depends on the quantum of labour performed. Sir, it there were no political 
purposes in prospect, would not this case resolve itself into the mere com- 
plaint of four or five disappointed printers against the Secretary — not made 
except by the gentlefnan from Tennessee — by the representative here of 
these printers. But the gentleman from North Carolina did not think to 
tell us, that the Secretary had designated a printer at Salisbury, in his State, 
a Jackiion paper too; and I am told the Catawba Journal has just as fair a 
claim to the publishing of the Laws as the Salisbury paper, and it is friendly 
to the Administration. But all tht- gentlemen in the opposition still want 
causes, yet they tell us they ^re satisfied. The honourable mover of the 
resolution, says he was satisfied before ; but he has since obtained abun- 
4ance of evidence. The New Hampshire Patriot was handed to him by a 
friend, from which he read seven extracts, as the R-Jitor says, for no names 
are given, of letters which he says are from the delegation of ihat State, to 
show the whole delegation were dissatisfied, because that paper was not ap- 
pointed. It would perhaps come better from the gentlemen themselves, on 
this floor, than anonymously, from an interested and inveterate and disap- 
pointed editor. Sir, the whole delegation of the State, he tells us, have 
■written to the editor. There are but six members from that State, and he 
has read seven letters. So that, if we count by numbers, he has one letter 
for each member, and ojie over ; and, a cause so over flowing with evi- 
dence, cannot want the Secretary's cause to support it. Why not, there- 
fore, at once submit a proposition to repeal the law .-' Why this circuitous 
route at this late stage of the Session ? They cai'not expect, in this 
■way, to succeed in passing any law at this Session ; and I have under- 
stood the gentleman from North Carolina has declined a re-election to 
to this House ; and, although, iii the outset, he told us he meant to 
obtam the repeal of the law, atid protested against any view to politi- 
cal effect. Whatever may have been the motives and intentions ot that 
gentleman — ■dUd I am sure I do not question his motives pr bis inten- 
tions, I will venture to say, that taking all the circumstances together, the 
jud|ment which will be pronounced by the people, will be, that this v^r^ 



13 

cesolution, and the debate on it, was got up for political effect against the 
Secretary and tht Aammistration, and not with a view to a repeal of ilie 
law ; anU it will he doubled too wliether, if they get their candidate into 
office, they would not rather increase than diminish the patronage of the 
Extcuiivc Depai tmtnt, as much noise as they make about it. 

1 he gentleman from Nortii Carolina (Mr. Saunders) says, that until the 
present Secretary came intn office, the authority of appointing the printers 
was never used for improper purposes, and tht Secretary, and the Adminis- 
tration are boldly charged with subsiilizing presses. But the gentleman has 
had the kindness to acquit the Fivsiaent nf any such acts. Now, Sir, after 
all their charges, so boldly made, 1 defy the gentlemen to show, that Mr 
Clay or any friend of his e\eT subsidized or controlled, by the loan of money, 
advance of money, b> purchase, or in any other way, any press, during the 
whole Presidential canvass. Yes Sir, I put the g nllemen at defiance ; and 
will gentlemen A-ho deal so much in suspicious defy us to charge home on 
their parly suspicions which are entertained by some ? We all recollect the 
Columbian Obsever, a paper published in Philadelphia during the Presiden- 
tial canvass. We all recollect whom it advocated and whom it abused — • 
and we have recently seen from the prints, that the Editor has applied for 
the benefit of the insolvent law, and that he has reported himself debtor to 
a gentleman, who is the particular friend and Biographer of General Jacksun, 
in about the sum of fifteeii hundred dollars. [A member sitting not far from 
Mr. J. make some remarks which the reporter did not hear, and Mr. J. re- 
sumed] I did not say, Mr. Speaker, that it was public money ; I do not deny- 
that it was the gentleman's own; he has a right to do as he pleases with his 
own ; I believe he is wealthy and can spare it. He is no doubt an honour- 
able man and ^n honourable Senator. Gentlemen have said the Secretary 
subsidized presses. I charge no one with subsidizing presses ; but it presses, 
have been subsidized, the effect is the same, no matter whose money does 
it. According to Major Noah, and the gentleman from N ew York can tell 
what credit he is entitled to, in a pamphlet which he published, 1 am told 
he says, glO.OOO was given tor the control of one press in New York, during 
the Presidential canvass. Shortly after the Presidential election was over, 
the Western Monitor, a paper printed in Lexington, Kentucky, was pur- 
chased up by somebody, to promote the election of a particular candidate and 
to abuse the Secretary of State ; so it seems, Bailey says, to whose hands it 
was committed. However, the Bill in chancery sworn to and filed by the 
said Mr. Bailey in the Circuit Court of Fayette and the answersif they be filed, 
can tell all about it. I speak of these things as ihi y have been p iblished to 
the world, as of public notoriety. I sliould not have mentioned them, but 
when gentlemen undertake, without evidence, to charge the Secretary of 
State, my friend, a man who I am proud to call my friend, with gagging 
jnd muzzling and subsidizing presses for personal and political purposes, ^nd 
who is innocent, they cannot take it as unfair, to have thrown back these 
charges which have been made, and leave the public to draw their own in- 
^rences and their own conclusions. 



m 

air, ID the ceurse of this debate the Administration has been representeS 
as a minority Administration — as weak, as suspected by its enemies and 
deserted some times by its friends. If it be so, wherefore this array against 
it ? Wherefore such a continued impeachment of the motives and conduct 
of the President and Secretary ? If theirs be the candidate of the people, as 
they would have you believe, why is it found necessary for the opposition 
papers, to issue column after column, day after day, and week, after wetk, 
of abuse, slander, and misreprescntaron against the President, the Secretary 
of State, and the whole Administration ? Why has it been found necessary 
for the Editor of a paper, to make a trip of exploration throughout tlie wliole 
Western Country, seeking and soliciting subscribers, and depositing in every 
town, village, and county, his hand-bills, containing foul, base, false and 
slanderous charges against the President, the Secretary of State, and the 
Government? Why has it been found necessary to form companies, as 
in Mississippi, to set up presses against the Administration * Why get up 
meetings and organize Committees in every State and county they can, and 
a Central Committee in this City, for planning and carrying on their opera- 
tions ? To issue forth their fulminating abuses, to distract if, possible, and put 
the community in commotion ? V\ hy has it been found necessary to publish 
an anonymous, and imperfect half-penny sketch, of the life of Gen. Jackson, 
with false and foul imputations at the conclusion of it, against the President 
and the Secretary of State, and to circulate them, by thousands, among the 
good people of these United States? Why has it been found necessary, for 
all the presses in the opposition, to join in simultaneous abuse against the best 
and purest Statesmen and Patriots of the age ? Are these the evidences they 
offer, to prove that their Candidate is the Candidate, of the people ? Is this 
the evidence which thf-y nfFpr tn thp pnhlic to prove that the Administration 
is weak, and some times deserted by its friends? Sir, I want no belter 
evidence to establish the fallacy of their assertions. What better evidence 
can they give, that they feel the Administration has both purity and strength, 
than, that all the exertions, power, and energies of the opposition are put ia 
.operation against the Administration to overturn it ? Does this prove it is 
a weak or a minority Administration ? Sir, it proves that the character they 
give to the Administration, belongs to the opposition — that it is the opposition 
that is weak and in the minority — that it is the opposition that is deserted by 
its friends and suspected, not only by its enemies, but by the people too---yes 
Sir, by the people. Sir, the acts of the opposition afford us the strongest evi- 
dence, that could be offered, that their cause is a sinking one, and however 
pure and patriotic the intention of the mover of this resolution may be — when 
it shall go to the world, with the charges and the denunciations so 
profusely poured out against the Administration, I venture little in haz- 
arding the opinion, that the public mind will settle down, under a belief 
that it was intended for political effect, that it is a desperate effort, to save 
a sinkng and desperate cause, a forlorn hope, the catching of a drowning 
roan at a stra^r. 



id 

W*e have heard /tardea spoken of in the course of this debate. Sir, since 
^entl( n»L'n will speak of parties, it may not be unprofitable to see how par- 
ties s^ood some time ago, and how they stand now. Before the close of the 
Administration of Mr. Monroe, there were two parties in this Co\intry, and 
in tliis House, one was called the Radicals and the other the Liberals. The 
then Secretary of the Treasury, Mr, Crawford, was charged with being the 
head of the Radicals, and he was denominated the Radical Chief. The 
then Secretaary of War, Mr, Calhoun, was assigned as the head of the 
Liberals, and he wasdcnominated the Armij Candidate, for both those gcn-s 
tlemen were then Candidates for the Presidency. These parties were ex-^ 
ceedingly inimical to each other; they differed, too, about measures. Th6 
Radicals were for reducing the Army, for retrenchment in the public ex- 
penditures, generally, and a speedy discharge of the Public Debt. The 
Liberals were opposed to the reduction of the Army, to retrenchment gene- 
rally, and to the speedy payment of the Public Debt. Upon these subjects 
they were at issue — public opinion assigned to these parlies their presses, 
and in this City one to each, through which, an unsparing warfare, personal 
and political, was carried on ; •ach, in turn, was charged by the other with 
plotting and counter-plotting, caucusing and counter-caucusing — one side was 
charged with preferring and employing favourites, contrary to law and the 
Constitution, and of pai tiality to certain banks, and the loss of the public 
moneys, by improper deposites in insufficient banks, and the other side was 
charged with m^iking large contracts in advance of appropriations, and con-* 
tfary to law, and of expending public money beyond appropriations. Some' 
of their disputes found their way into this House, and Committees were rais- 
ed to settle tliem. To shew you. Sir, that I do not exaggerate, I will read 
an extract of a fetter, from a very distinguished member, at that time, of this 
House. Mr. Randolpli, was about to embark for Europe, he had the dangers 
of the sea to encounter, health to recover, and he wrote back to his constitu- 
ents a letter, from whicii, I will read an extract; it may be found in the 22d 
■volume of Niles' Register, of 30th March, 1823, page 73. 

Mr. Randolph says, " I have an especial desire to be in that Congress, 
Hrhich will decide (probably by indirection,) the character of the Executive 
Government of the confederation, for at least four years — perhaps for ever 5 
now, for the first time since the institution of the Government, we have 
presented to the people, the army candidate for the Presidency in the per- 
son of him, who judging from present appearances, will receive the support 
of the Bank of the United States also. This is an union of the purse and 
the sword with a vengeance.-atone which, even the sagacity of Patrick 
Henry never anticipated, in this shape at least. Let the people look to it,- 
or tltey are lost forever. They will fall into that gulf, which, under the 
artificial, military, and paper systems of Europe, divides Dives from Laza- 
rus, and grows daily and hourly broader, deeper, and more appalling. To 
?his state of things, we are rapidly approaching, under an administration, 
the head of which sets an incubus upon the State, while the Lieutenants of 
t^e new Mayor of the palace,, are alrsady contending for the stsocession : 



16 

aiid their retainers and adherents are with difficufty kept fronn comirig {<$ 
blows, even on the floor of Congress." In reading this, I do not subscribe 
to all it contains. The picture, in some respects, is perhaps too highly drav/n; 
but r read it to show the temper and feelings of those partif s towards each 
other. One of the gentlemen afterwards left the direct path to the Presi- 
dency, and entered upon a circuitous route — and his friends, generally, joined 
themselves to those of another candidate who had set out alasfor the Presiden- 
cy, and who was not less inimic.l to the radical chief, than the gentleman 
who had departed from the direct road. If he was less inimical, he was more 
open and bitter in his denunciations of Mn Crawford — and the war was 
still curried on with unabaiing zeal. Not even the severe afflictions, which 
visited that great and good man, which destroyed his powers and paralyzed 
his mind, could stay the violence of party feeUngs. The Columbian Obser- 
ver to which I have before had occasion to advert, with more than savage 
cruelty, riejoiced in the severity of his Hfflirtions, declared they were the 
visitations of Providence, as a just retribution for his manifold crimes* 
The war never ceased until the election was over, or until its latest hours. 
But there was another portion of this House and of the country, who did 
not enter iuto the feelings of the belligerents ; they entertained a kind feel- 
ing towards both, and both felt, or at least expressed, warm feelings for 
them. This other portion of the House, had of necessity to be the arbiters 
of the disputes introduced here, and this neutral party in the House and the 
country, was composed of the friends of the now President and Secretary of 
Slate ; and whrre are these belligerent parties now, once so zealously and bit- 
terly contending against each other i Where are tney ? Are they still arrayed 
against each other ? No, Sir, we now find them united in one common effort, 
against the very men, whose friends saved them from the fury of each 
other. Thtec arc facta about whJoh I should have made no remarks 
but as the gentlemen on the other side, have brought parties into 
view, I have endeavoured to present you with a portrait, though it may be 
short of real life, of parties as they were, and of the same parties as tiiey now 
are, and let the public judge. 

The gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Houston) has availed himself of th6 
present occasion to denounce the administration, afid he has done so in brobd 
and unsparing terms. According to him the administratiot? is not fit to be 
mentioned, when Jefferson's is named — neither the admmistratif n nor those 
who support it, in his opinion, are fit even to touch the tomb of Jefferson, 
Sir, this is broad language — and coming as it does from a member of this 
House, standing in the relation he does, of the closest intimacy, political and 
personal, with the candidate of the opposition, it would seem to call for more 
attention, than if it had come from any other quarter, or had been incicient- 
ally expressed — and what. Sir, are the reasons he nas offered us for the terms 
he has used. They are two, first because the Secretary of State did not see 
cause to designate the Nashville Republicati to publish the Laws, which I 
have already mentioned ;— but I will take occasion here to remark that the 
gentleman was mistaken when he said the Editor was a relation of the Sec-^ 



17 

K-etary— His brother married in the Secretary's family— there is no otiiet 
relationship. The other cuniplaint is the a])i)ointnient of a Post-master 
at Nashville. In regard to the Post-master. I have only to observe, that 
whatever opinion he may entertain in regard to that Post master, that gen- 
tlemen from Tennessee whose high standing and veracity, I presume he 
will not feel disposed to question, did certify that individual to be a man of 
strict integrity and great business qualifications. It is notorious, too, that he 
was the aid of Govenor Carrol on his escort of General Lafayette through 
Kentucky; he was clerk to the House of Representatives and had been Mayor 
of the City of Nashville ; and it will not be denied that either the [jrinter 
or the person recommended by that gentlemen for Post-master, was re- 
commended on part) grounds. The refusal to appoint a printer and a Poj,t* 
master, recommend on party considerations, constitutes the whole ground, so 
far as we have heard, upon which he has thus denounced the Administration 
and its supporters. Other gentlemen in the opposition have laid hold of 
this occasion, too, to abuse and denounce the Administration almost without 
limit. It may not be unprofitable to examine, and see who the men are that 
compose the Administration, which lias been so severely denounced and 
about whom so much has been said; and when they are brought in review, 
before the people, they will judge between them and their abuses. At the 
kead of the Administration is John Quincy Adams, President of the United 
States, a man who is alike distinguished for his eminent talents and long pub., 
lie services at home and abroad. His name is connected with most of the 
great events of our country, for the last thirty years — who, as a Statesman, 
has no rival — as a patriot no superior — a man who loves his country and glo- 
ries in its free institutions.and devotes his time and attention, to promoting and 
securing its best, its dearest and its greatest interests; a man approaching to 
the age of sixty and grown grey m the service of his country. He divides 
and employs his time with all the economy of Franljjin; his morahty lias all 
the austerity of the patriot, Samuel Adams; he possesses the purity and 
self-denialof Madison, and I do verily believe, he is the plainest man that 
ever was President of the United States, He is seldom seen out of his 
House, except on foot, mingling with his fellow cititens, and is then only to 
be distinguished by the humility of his deportment. 

The next is Henry Clay, Secretary of State. Need I speak of him in this 
Hall, the theatre of his noblest efforts ? Shall I speak of him to the people 
of this nation.^ They are witnesses of his public life, for the last twenty 
years. His character requires not my Eulogy — it is as far above my pane- 
gyric, as it has proven to be beyond the reach of detraction, the assaults of 
malice, or the power of party. We have seen personal dislike, and party vio- 
lence, and disappointed ambition, uniting influence, ability and zeal to effect 
his destruction. We have seen a numerous party with a press at command, 
and with great talent, marshalling their united forces, to break down a sin- 
gle man. — He was not unconscious of the danger, nor insensiljle to the as- 
sault. He lookeu fearlessly on the storm that raged around him. But he 
atood unmoved, unhurt. A reliance on the justice of his countrymen, a be* 



18 

lief that truth and reason will prevail over violence and faction, has armed 
him with a moral courage, that puts malignity at defiuuce. He fiist enter 
ed the Senate of the United States in^l807; subsequently, he came to this 
House, over which he presided as Speaker the whole time he was here, vx- 
cept a part of one session. He was selected by Mr. Madison to go upon the 
impertant mission of peace. He has been foremost in all the great meas- 
ures of the country ! he was the supporter of the war and the minister of 
peace. He was the advocate of State rights and settler of the Missou 
ri question. He was the able advocate and supporter of the American 
system. Indeed, Sir, I would ask what great question has arisen, what 
great measure has, been adopted, in which he has not shone conspicuously? 
And yet he has not been greedy or anxious for office. Mr. Madison offered 
him a place in his Cabinet. Mr. Monroe, when he came into office, ten- 
dered him one in his Cabinet; he declined both. 

James Barbour is the Secretary of War; a man without fear and without 
reproach, a man of high order of talent, a pure heart and the strictest in- 
tegrity; a man on whom his native State has showered all its honours. I have 
had the pleasure of knowing this distinguished man from early life. He is 
a native of Virginia. As soon as he was eligible, he was elected a member 
of the House of Delegates, and it happened to be in the session 179S, when 
the Vuginia resolutions against the Alien and Sedition law were passed. 
Upon that occasion he made a speech, as young as he was, against the Alien 
and Sedition law, of such merit that it was preserved by Mr. Jefferson, and 
may now be found in the Library of Congress, In tlie next year, ]799, 
when Mr. Madison was pressed by men from all parts of Virginia, as well 
as in his own county, he declared it a condition upon which he would serve, 
that this same James Barbour should be his colleague. He was atter that 
Speaker of the Housb of D^lea-ites miuny years. He was then elected Gov- 
ernor of the State, and it fell to his lot to serve as the Executive of the 
State during the war, a period full of peril, of labour, and difficulty. J'he 
people of Virginia are witnesses to the energy and promptitude of his con- 
duct, of the decided and important services he rendered ; it was at a time 
too, as we all know, when the Country was depressed and without money 
to carry on the vvar. He obtained money for the uses of his Country, upon 
his own resp.)nsil)ility. His ample fortune and himself were pledged to raise 
g200,000 fur his Country's defence. Nearly two millions passed through 
his httnds as Agent of the Government, yet he was never a defaulter^ 
He has not asked, as others have done, remuneration for his services, nor 
indemnity for his responsibilities. His only aim and his only desire was to 
be serviceable to his Country ; and, if I am not mistaken, he originated the 
School Fund bill in 1809, which promises such benefits and renown to that 
ancient and respectable .State. From Governor of Virginia, he was elected 
to the Senate of the United States, where he served for some time as Presi- 
dent of that body. He was a second and a third time elected to the Sen ite; 
and from there he came to be the He^d af the Departm-nt over which he 
new so usefully and ably presides. Through all the conflicts of the war and 



1» 

nf party violence, through which he has had to pass, he has'moved An otf- 
ward course, relying ui)oii the purity of his motives and the powers of his 
mind, and none have yet dared assail his reputation. He always had the coir 
fidei ce and friendship, of Jefferson and Madison. 

Richard Rush is the Secretary of the Treasury. He, too, is a man alto* 
getlier without reproach. Wherever he lias been known, he has been loved 
and resnected. He has had long experience in public affairs, which, added to 
his fine talents, eminently qualifies him for the office he now so ably fills- 
He is the son of a Revolutionary patriot, who was not less distinguished for 
his republican course, than he was celebrated for his great acquirements in 
the medical art. Mr. Rush, early in life, had the confidence of that good 
Democrat and excellent (Governor, Simon Snyder. Mr. Rush was Attorney 
General in Madison's Administration. He was the close friend of Mr. Muct- 
ison. The Democratic party of his native State, Pcnnsyhania, in looking 
around among all her numerous and highly qualified and respectable sons, 
to present to the Nation, one for j)referment and promotion, singled out this 
man as the favourite, and he was unanimously nominnted by the Democratic 
Convention, of that State, to be run as Vice President, with Mr. Monroe, 
the last of the Revolutionary patriots. He was many years our Minister at 
London. In all the public stations he has filled, he has acquitted himself 
with credit and ability, and such is the purity of his private and public life, 
of his devotion to Republican principles, and the love of his Country, that 
the most malignant breath of slander, has not been able to touch his reputa- 
tion, or reproach him with a single act, even of indiscretion. 

Samuel L. Southard is the Secretary of the Navy. He, too, is the son of 
a Revolutionary patriot, who carried his musket during the Revolutionary 
war, and was one of that invincible and much celebrated corps, called the 
Jersey Blues, so well known and so eminently distinguished during the Revo- 
lution. That old patriot has always been a true Republican. 1 had the honour 
of meeting him on this floor, where I heard him raise his voice in favour of 
Missouri; may he live long and enjoy the fruits of a well spent life. His 
son has inherited his virtues and Democratic principles. At an early age 
Mr. Southard attracted the attention of his native State of New Jersey; he 
•was placed on the Bf nch of her Supreme Court, as its Chief Justice; from 
thence he was transferred to the Senate of the United States, and from 
thence he was placed, by Mr. Monroe, at the head of the Department over 
which he presides. Ip every station in which he has been placed, he has 
proved himself worthy of the confidence and trust, and has ably discharged 
the duties incident to every office he has held. There is scarcely another 
instance in our Country of so young a man having filled so many impirtant 
offices. His character and deportment in public and private life is without 
reproach. 

William Wirt, Attorney General — though last bv no means least. He, 
too, is a Democrat of the Jefferson school ; eaily in life, he was a distinguish- 
ed Advocate of those who were prosecuted under thr Sedition Law. Virginia 



w 

was th^ theatre of his active life, there he built up for himself a high reputa- 
tion, he filled several important offices, he was Judge of the Chancery Court, 
and was appointed to the office he now holds, by Mr. Monroe. He is a man 
of the highest order of talents, profound and leat*ned in his profession, and 
to use the language of the honourable member from Delaware, when speak- 
hig of this officer the other day, *' He sheds lustre and dignity upon the 
high and responsible office he fills ;" in all the relations of private and 
public life, he has manifested the strictest devotion to his Country and her 
free Institutions. 

And these are the men, Mr. Speaker, who compose what is called the 
Administration. These are the men who sit in Council upon the affairs of 
our Country; these form the Council of the Head of our great and happy 
Confederacy, and these are the patriots, and the statesmen, that you have 
heard assailed and denounced in such broad and unsparing terms. And who 
are they that have thus abused and denounced them ? It is true they are 
the friends and supporters of General Jackson, the Candidate of the oppo- 
sition for the Presidency. The boldest and foremost among them have 
scarcely turned 30 years of age, but a little while ago entered upon the 
stage of public life — and yet so forward to denounce and abuse the best 
men and the best patriots of the age. Sir, if they calculate that such a 
course will gain them favour in the eyes of the people, they are mistaken ; 
the people of this (Country have no admiration for such harshness, for such 
unmerited accusations. The people have sagacity to see and judge, that 
true merit never seeks to rise on the ruins of others. 

Sir, we sometimes see the ambitious and the restless, who cannot bear the 
restraints of law, ofmorahty, and of virtue; who cannot bear the labour 
and the toil of investigation, to qualify themselves; who become sore and 
soured by disappointment, who seek to destroy the well and long earned 
fame of others, to make way for themselves and their friends to power and 
to office. 

Sir, I demand of the gentlemen in the opposition to tell me, to tell the 
people, what possible motive the President or any one of his Cabinet can 
have to do an injury to the Country, They have every one by their patience, 
their labour, and their talents ; by their virtues and by their intelligence, 
gained for themselves high reputations ; they have obtained the rich re- 
ward of their Country's confidence and their Country's honours; and to sup- 
pose that they would, by one bad or vicious act, destroy the rich inherit- 
ance of a good fame, is to ascribe to them a depravity of heart, and a want 
of sense, that their whole lives and every act of their lives contradict. Are 
men who have risen step by step, from office to office, through a long course 
of public service, until they have reached the highest honours in the gift of 
a free people, to be disparaged and disgraced by the breath of party ma- 
levolence ? Sir, I have shown you that these men are competent to all the 
duties of the high stations they fill; their long public and faithful services, 
offer a strong guarantee to the public confidence. If additional evidence 
is required, they have it to give; it is to be found in their private and public 



^iiftues, in their love of Country and their love of Liberty, in the desire eve* 
ry honourable man must have to preserve his fame and hand it down to 
posterity unimpaired. What better legacy can a man leave his offspring 
than an honest fame; how better can he secure to himself, the public grati- 
tude and the public confidence, than by an honest, faithful, and able dis- 
charge of his public duties. Sir, there is nothing in the lives, character, or 
condition of these men, that should excite suspicion or distrust ; but every 
thing to invite our confidence and our reliance on their virtues, their integrity, 
capacity, and their devotion to their Country and its best interests. And 
who are the men they propose to substitute for these long tried and faith- 
ful patriots and statesmen, when they ehall havf destmyod their reputation 
and the public confidence in them ? Let us hear who they are ? Sir, I de- 
fy them to present to this Nation a President and Cabinet of such men. — 
where will they find them .* Will they be found in the ranks of the oppo- 
sition ? 

Let gentlemen denounce and abuse them in this House, let all the meniai 
presses of the opposition, set up, and to be set up, throughout the Nation, 
follow in harmonious concord, and let them, in addition to the denunciations 
here, add all the abuse, all the misrepresentation, all the bitter outpourings 
of their malignity and their vengeance. It is after all but the wailings of 
disappointed ambition.jwhich in every step it advances, leaves the evidence 
of its disregard to the Country's welfare, of disregard of moral integrity 
and political virtue — indeed, a total disregard of the means employed to 
arrive at the end in view — and that end, is the power and control of the 
destinies of this free and yet happy Country. The object and the end is 
power and office. Sir, I say the hitroduction of any man into power, by the 
means employed, is more to be deprecated and is more alarming to the 
cause of freedom and the moiala of th© Country, than any wnnt of qualifi- 
cation or objectionable traits of character, which may be found in any indi- 
vidual, whom it may be the object of such an opposition to place in power. 
My objection to the means is stronger than to the man, though I have cci'- 
tainly strong objections to both. 

Sir, there is another view of this subject, that is of some importance to 
the nation. It is a comparison of the policy, which the present administra- 
tion favours, with that which the opposition v.iil act upon, if they get into 
power. This is a part of the subject which invites the serious consideratiot? 
of every man in the Nation. The interests of the farmer, the planter, the 
mechanic, the labourer, the merchant, the manufacturer, the navigator, all 
are concerned. I gather my opinion of the course and policy of this admin- 
istration, from the sources which are open to every one. 

An honourable peace with all nations — Commerce and friendly inter 
course with all nations based on the principles of equality and reciproci- 
ty. That the General Government and the State Governments should each 
revolve within their respective spheres, and neither encroach upon the 
rights of the other; that it is assential to the preservation of our institntions, 
and promotion of the happiness of the people, that peace, amity, fi:-ndship 



&nd confidence, should subsist between the States respectively, and betweeft 
the General Government aud the State Governments— liiat difftniices 
of opinion out^lit to be settled by an apjjeal to reason. That Congress has 
power to make Roads and Canals for national purposes; and that a facil-* 
ity of internal intercourse and commerce, will not only be most highly ben- 
£cial to the Country, but it is has a tendency to preserve our Union. Tliat 
protection to the labour and industry of the Country, is essential to its pros-" 
perity, its independence, and its happiness. That the present Army of the 
United States, is sufficient for the purposes it was intended for, and no in- 
crease has been thought of. That tiie Navt ou.^ht not to be increased far- 
ther than the finish of those on hand, and to procure more materials. That 
the fortification of the Country, ought to proceed according to its means* , 
That tlie expenditure of the public money ought to be confined to neccssa 
ry, proper, and useful objects. Th^t economy and accountability should be 
observed in every Department. That the public debt ought to be speedily 
discharged. 

All these things I think may be gathered, frotn the President's MessageSj, 
his acts, and the conduct and acts, of tlie H-ails of the Departments, who 
form his Cabinet, as well as from the general lenour and course of their 
lives and their known political principles. Wlien the public debt is paid, which 
all men now agree will be with-in a few years, provided neither war nor mis- 
fortunes visit our Country, we shall then have a surplus re^'enue of ten mil- 
lions annually, which can be employed in great National works such as Roads 
and Canals, opening the navigable water courses of the Country, and affjr- 
ding every possible aid and encouragement to the industry and commerce 
of the Country; and how much better would it be,to lay it out on such objects, 
than to expend it in building forts, fortificaiions.and an overgrown and bu then- 
some Navy, the creation of offices and the maintenance of idkrs. 

Now Sir, what are the policy ai^d princii les upon which the opposition 
would administer the government, should they evei get the power into their 
bands? Where shall we look for their policy and their jjrinciples; shall we 
look to their candidate or to the supporters of that candidate. As to thtii can- 
didate, I know but little of his opinions about measures, and shall sa) no- 
thing. But I think we may find sufficient evidence to arrive at an answep 
to the inquiry, by turning our attention to his warmest and most zealous 
supporters. First then I would call your attention to the celebrated resolutions 
of Mr. Giles, in the Virginia Legislature, and let it be taken into the account 
that most of the prominent men of Virginia^who now control her destmics, are 
the Jie^u dorn friends and admirers of the opposition candidate. Virginia, as 
Governor Tyler has truly said, was decidedly for Mr. Adams, next to Mr. 
Crawford. What has produced this change? Let those resolutions which pas- 
sed by a vote of two to one, tell, and whatever else may be pretenrled. the 
cause, is because Mr. Adams is the open and declared friend of internal 
improvement,and of tho protection of American industry. Are not all the cot- 
ton growing States, claimed to be the sujjporters of the same Candiilnte ? 
We know and sec. that these States are opposed to the Tariff. What is the 



8S 

Language held by the politicians generally of the cotton growing States? It 
is ih it a Tariff, tortile protection of domestic industry is unconslitutionaijthey 
go fariher ihey have declared tliat sucii laws are dishonest, that tliey are 
acts of robbery . — Ihe politirians of Uiis ^an e rei;ii n of country, witli some 
exceptions, declare, that it is unconstitutiouul for the (ieneral (iovernmcnt to 
construct roads or ciUrils, hut that it is quite constitutional, to build light 
houses, vvharves and construct harbors to facilitate commerce with foreign- 
ers. Now, Sir, thise are the politicians and the Statesmen who are against 
this administration and art usi:ig every eff ix to bring in the opposition can- 
didate. If they believed lie would advocate internal improvement, and the 
protection of American industry, do you believe they would shew so much 
zeal in his beh ilf, go such lengths as they do m Ins cause.'' Again, if he were 
to jjursue the same policy on these two great sulijecis, which tuis adminis- 
tratio 1 favours, would they not opjiose him as they (io Mr. Adams? — ini if 
his own Siuthcrn friends lurn against him, where would he find support * 
Could he expect it from the friends of the President and the Cabinet, upon 
whom they have bestowed volumes iv abuse? Tae conclusion is clear and 
inevitible, he will have to go witli his frieiuK. B.jt do not let me be here 
misunderstood— I do not mean to suy, that if he should be for correct mea- 
sures, the fnenls of this adminstration would not support the measures; thet 
they would do for the s ike of the '■neisures and the lovc o*' their country, but 
that thc\ Olid not, after such a system of abuse, su;jporc his pretensions, and 
after he loses his anti-internal nnprov mi-n friends, and hi^ frie i Is opposed t« 
the ^yrotection of American inlustry, he will Have tVw, very few left. And 
hence the coiirjiision is i resisti'olv true, that he must go with his friends- 
Bit are these all the >;iffi:;ulties he would have to encountei? One portion of 
his most zealous sup sorters, are ultras io the construction of the powers of 
the Gi^neral Govern niLiit; another part are ultras in tlie cons. ruction of the 
pow'-rsof the State Government; and tliey were formerly as I have shewn, 
oppos d to each otluT;,uid »^hich party will yield tlieir opinions,on their can- 
didate coming into power? Bit in regard to internal improvement and the pro- 
ter-.tion of douiestic in lustiy, they probably pretty generally agree, and have 
d'- iiouiccd both as tin.:onstitutional,and th T iriff as an act of robbery — they 
■will be bound when thie) get into power, to dismiss thesulj: ct internal im- 
provement, and to repeal the rarift' — Tuis we must believe, unless we shall 
bell, ve them insincere,and no one can doubt their sincerity in opposing these 
measur- s, after so many acts of hostility against them. Then let us suppose ^ 
thesii!ject of internal inijjroseinent ab.»ud>>ned, and the tariff repealed. 
Then biiall we see che manufactures of the counlr) go down, the mechanics 
witiiout employment, the farmers witnout sale for even that small share of 
their surplus pro.iure and stock, now consumed by the various manufactories 
of he (Country. — W;- must again, go toO.i E.igland fur woollens and col- 
toiis, fvir saddles md bridles, am shoes and hats, iron and lead, and even the 
hoes .vc kveed oiu htikls witii; tnis inay do in the imagination of some, well 
enough for those immediately on the sea boaril;t)ut it .vould be a ruinous state 
of thu5gs tor the interior of the country , and then too, what would become of our 



31 

revenuei' Where should we get money to pay the public debt? Where would 
be that surplus revenue, whicli, according to the new langled, and, I had like 
to have said, time serving doctrine, that is now advanced by some of the op-> 
position, is to be divided among the States, for the purposes of internal im- 
provement? The answer is, you would have none — no Sir, the revenue would 
not be sufficient for the support of government, if it would be worth support- 
ing in such a state of things; they would have to resort to direct taxes and in- 
ternal duties, systems the most odious to our constituents, and distre ssing to 
our country, and what would they have to pay with, when we have ceased 
to protect their industry and their enterprise? Nothing, they would have 
nothing to pay with. — Such a course of things.Sir, reminds me of the condi- 
tion of the fields and lands which I have seen in the lower counties of Mary- 
land and Virginia; exhausted, worn out and washed into galleys, re- 
duced to their present unproductive and ruined condition, in raising tobacco, 
to purchase the necessaries and comforts of life, from English workshops; 
twenty years of such a policy would bring this country to a condition of po- 
verty and distress, that I cannot describe — We that live beyond the mountains 
might get to market as we could, with all nature's obstructions which lie in 
our way, over land or on water. 

These arc the principles we have to test in the coming election, and all the 
abuse.of denunciation, which have been or may be cast on the Administration 
are only calculated, if not intended, to divert the attention of the people, from 
the merits of the contest. Shew me a time in the annals of this country, when 
public affairs were better conducted or carried on more smoothly, the peace 
of the Country better preserved, and its prosperity more advanced — shew 
me the administration that has expended less money and paid more of the 
public debt, than this has done, according to the time, has been in power 
the fortifications have been continued, the Navy has been nearly completed, 
all the useful public establishments ot the Country have been preserved. Men 
■who wanted office for themselves or their friends, and have been disappoint- 
ed, will complain; but where is the cause, which calls for the complaints of 
the people ; all is peace, all is quiet, we are disturbed only by the clamour- 
ingsofthe opposition, and the delay which they interpose in the affairs of 
the Country. 

I am apprized that there are those. Sir, who profess to rest their o/i/iosi- 
iion to this Administration, upon charges made against the President and 
Secretary of State, of coalition &c. The Secretary of State did vote for 
Mr. Adams, and I might ask many who are now arrayed against the Ad- 
ministration, if they would not have done so ? I might ask some, yes, the 
gentleman from North Carolina, (Mr. S.) if he does not know some, who 
made earnest and solemn appeals to members who were uncommitted, 
saying, save the Nation, save the Nation, by the election of Mr. Adams, and 
who are now to be found arrayed among the foremost of the opposition ? 
What has caused this change, belongs to them to explain ; some pretend it 
is because Mr. Adams offered, and Mr. Clay accepted, the office of Secre- 
tary of State ; it is a Public Office, it was created for the benefit of the 



25 

Country; and in discharging the duties of the office, he is serving hit 
Country. But suppose the association between the President and Sccrt tary 
•was altogether of a private character, where is the objection to it •» Where 
is the man in this or any other Country, whose character, whose taknts, 
and whose virtues are more conspicuous than the President's? Ihese nten 
ought to be upon the terms of the closest intimacy, it is highly honourable 
to both, and the interest of the Country requires their united services. Sir, 
how inconsistent wer'- some driven to be, not long since, at a dinner, I think 
in this place; a friend of Gen. Jackson's, drank a toast which was published, 
"John Q. Adams, Uie able defender of Gen. Andrew J.ickson"— When the 
public conduct of their candidate needs defence, Mr. Adams is the greatest 
and the finest man in the Nation — when llicy want his office, why then, he 
is every thing or any thing, but what an honest man ought to be ; this is a 
specimen ot their consistency. But Mr. Clay is Secretary of State, that is 
the point. — Can they charge him with eagerness for office ? He was offered 
a place in the Cabinet by Mr. Madison, and he was agiin offered and 
pressed by Mr. Monroe to accept the Head of one of the Departments, 
when he came into office. Does not this show that he was neither greedv nor 
ambitious of office ? Again I put it to the opposition, to point to the man, who 
has higher qualifications for the office, a man better suited and more capa- 
ble of dischargmg all its high and responsible duties, or can they evtn point 
me to one who is his equal i* What is there then, that siiould have pre- 
vented the one from offering, and the other from accepting? But it is said 
there was a difference between them; yes Sir, and their enemies have not 
failed to magnify that difference. I'hcy differed in opinion at Ghent, upon, 
the construction of the Treaty ai ir83, and their instructions about tlie 
navigation of the Mississippi and the fisheries. I suppose the gentlemen will 
admit if Mr. Adams was wrong that Mr. Gallatin was also wrong, for he 
and Mr. Adams agreed in opinion — tliat q lesaon is settled and can never 
again occur. I have no doubt some gentlemen would be glad to see a quar- 
rel between them ; whatever that difference was, it concerned themsi.lv es 
and not the Country; it is their enemies, who concern themselves about it, 
I do know and so do hundreds know, that the interchanges tf civility and 
social intercourse between them were not interrupttd by it — and that of 
itself, is the best evidence, that it was not nor is not, of sufficient magnitude, 
©r of a character to prevent their affording to their Country, their joint 
exertions and hearty cooperation in its service. But, Sir, if we must talk 
about ttiese things, I would in turn, ask gentlemen who we find now uinied 
in the opposition, if they had not inveterate dislikes and variances, of a more 
deep and implacable nature, than ever existed between the President and 
Secretary of State, tc reconcile or in some way to dispose of, before tiey 
got together. There were not only personal dislikes to overcome, but Vur6 
were political differences to reconcile, some were ultras in the construction 
of the Federal Constitution, that went to the destruction of State n^hra, 
othtrs were ultras in the construction of State riglus, and carried their 
constructions so far as to leave the general Government aliBuii( powsrltn* 
4 



'^,'^-*'s> ■ .-^o?r-*"« 



g6 

Will they sui'render their doctrines, about which they have said so much— 
about -vhich thf y have so widely difFered? for the,y are so very opposite they" 
cannot stand together. Will all their political differences and asperities 
and heart burnings, be buried in the success nf their candidate? Will the 
past be forgotten ? Will they lie down togeth-^r, satisfied with office and 
with power, and think no n^ore of the principles they have advocated or 
the differences that divided them ? And yet they talk of differences between 
the President and the Secretary — what principles have they compromised? 
None, Mr. Clay, in accepting the office, yielded none of his opinifjns; the 
President has yielded none of his — there was no difference of opinion be- 
tween them, in regard to the great interests and measures of the Country — 
they had no discordant political opinions to reconcile or to compromise, each 
can maintain his Dv\n doctrines, his own views of the public interest, and 
public measures, and yet go together, because they are agreed. Henry" 
Clay is still Henry Clay, dnd the President is still himself — neither has 
changed his political creed. When gentlemen come here to make 
chatges agiinst others, they should come as a man, is required to go into a 
Court of Ciiancery, with clean hands and if they bring such charges against 
those distinguished and faithful public servants, it is proper to let the people 
undt-rstand the attitude in which they stood, and that in which they now 
stand, and let them decide. I have no disposition to question the motives 
of any one ; but can gentlemen expect to arraign day after day our friend 
and the Administration upon such groundless imputations, and that I will 
be silent. 

We have heard another charge, time after time repeated, against the 
President, that he had apostatized from Federalism ; there was a time, 
•when this tale would bear telling in some parts of the Country, and it may 
do, yet, where his early public life is not known The charge was always 
founded more on presumption than on facts; but let us see how this matter 
really stands. During the conflicts of party between the elder Mr. Adams 
and Mr. Jiffersoi , the President was abroad upon public business; He of 
course could have had no part in it. Some time afttrthe election of Mr. Jiffer- 
son he returned home, and after his return, he was elected by the Legisla- 
ture of Massachusetts to the Senate of the United States, and I freelj admit, 
that he acted generally with the members from hisSection of the Huion.it was 
natural he should do so, it is what we all generally do, go for the policy 
of our own Sections. But Sir.when wl became involved in conflicts with foreign 
powers, when British outrage was committed upon our con. merce, upon our 
vessi Is and upon our people, where then was this man found ? Was he found 
in the ranks of the opposers of Mr. Ji fierson's Administratioi.? Was he found 
on the side of British aggression as the federalists then wen ? No Sir, look 
to the republican meetings held in Bcjston, there you will find him acting 
with the patriot E bridge Gerry in resolvt-s to support the Country. A cri- 
sis had arrived, when it was necessary men should take sides and M r. Adams 
did not hesitate a moment; he was found in the Republican ranks, he was 
for his country. It is but necessary to look to these resolutions, to the let 



S7 

ters of Mr. Adams, which were some time after written and have heen puti« 
lished to the world, to establish the fact beyond ail doubt; and when he re : 
turned to the Senate of the United States at the next session, he did sup- 
port in all things the Administration of Mr. Jefferson, and continued to do so. 
He has evtr since been in public life, with the exception of a short period, 
and has been employed in the most conspicuous stations by each successive 
Administration — so that the tale about his vote on the Embargo, being the 
first act of a decided stand in the Republican ranks is not true. There is 
no one act in his public life, which has come to my knowledge, to shew, 
thut he really ever belonged to the party, in this Country, who were opposing 
their own country, in its defence against British aggression— It m.iy be true, 
that while the politicians of this Country were divided in opinion, about 
the conts. si between England and France, that his opinions of Bunaparte were 
so unfavourable, that he did not agree in opinion with those who looked for 
the freedom of France to result from that m.in's ambition, and therefore, in 
regard to the mere abstract question or opinion about the views and d.-signs, 
and contests of the European powers among themselves, it is believed he 
thought with those who were called federalists. Bat as I before said, when 
this country became involved in a dispute with a foreign po.ver, when 
Great Britain commenced her depredations and outrages against us, he took 
decided ground in favour of his own Country, and in no controversy between 
this nation and any other, did lie eves t;»k.' part against his own Country. 
He was found on her side, he was as an American should be ; always for 
his Country — this I believe to be a true state of facts, and how unmerited, 
then, is the imputation, of his having apostatized from Federalism — Before 
such a charge is made, it ought to be shown thut he ever really bi-longcd to 
them, in the sense in which it is generally uuilerstood. This charge was 
literally worn out before the last Election, in some p^irts of the Country and 
k is now raised up again, I suppose b cause no better can be found, and af 
ter all they are obliged to admit, that he has been a true republican for the 
last twenty years, and they have to go back anterior to that time to bring 
up this charge of apostacy, unfounded as I believe it to be ; an imputation 
too, which is now used by gentlemen, who not very long ago were very will- 
ing and some of them very anxious to see him made President next to their 
favourite. Sit, I believe Mr. Adams as pure a man, and as true a repub- 
lican as any man in the United States, and I believe him as much devoted to 
the liberty, the honour, the iiuerests and glory of our highly favoured Coun- 
try as any one living. Sir I would not have troubled )ou with these remarks, 
but tor the observations which fell from the gentleman from North Carolin i, 
and others on his side. This charge at one time did not present an insuper 
ble obstacle to them to his being made President ; and it is for the gentlemen 
to say how it has,' at so late a day, become so formidable an objection with 
them. 

The gentleman from North Carolina tells us that it seems to be the policy 
of the present administration to put out those whom Mr. Jefferson put in, and 
he wishes to be informed whether such is the policy. — I ask the gentleman 
where is the evidence of this administration having turned out any one put 



£8 

ji) by Mr. Jefferson— and let the appnintment of Albert Gallatin as our Minis-, 
ter to Eiiglantl, wlio was one of Mr. J flfvrsoii's Cabinet, answer his inquiry! 
I know, Sir, that complaints have been made by the menial presses- of 
the opposition about tlie a;,., intment ot Rufus King; and what is it they do 
not complain of? Wh it act of the President have they not misrepresented ? 
I -sk t^eniitnicn u: the ojjposition to answer these q;itstions — 1 havt no. 
prepossessions for that individual; but. Sir, who isthisRufus King whose ap : 
pointnient has been blazoned forth and noised throughout the world. It is 
adniutrdon all hands that he was a federalist, and a distinguished federalist, 
for he is a man of acknowledged talents; this is ceded to him by frienfis and 
epenut s. But when the war came, though he opposed its coming, we hnd 
him aidingand supporting Governor Tompkins of New York, in the sup- 
port of the v;ar, and on the exertions of Gcvenor Toiupkins much, yes, mueli 
depended. After the war was over, iVlr. King was elected by the Republican 
ana patriotic state of New York to the Senate of the United States ; having 
served out his term, he was a second time elected, and 1 believe, unanimous- 
ly, or without serious opposition, also by a republican Ligislature. He was 
chosen a member of the late Convention of that State, to revise the Consti- 
tution. He served out his last term in the Senate, and could, it is believed, 
have again been elected. Now, Sir, which is most competent to decide upon 
the merits or demerits of Mr. King, the people of New York and the Legisla- 
ture of New York, or the opposition presses .? Let that question be answered, 
be fore we hear any more about nis appointment, and then let the public judge 
whether it was right or wrong. 

The gentleman from North-Carolina, has been pleased to call this Admi- 
nistration the amalgamating Administration. What authority has he for 
gi\ing it that name ? Where is his evidence of the fact.-' Mr. A-lonroe was 
pressed to muke his Aflmini'.trafion SO, and thitt, too, by the j^entlemail's 

candidate ; and he ought, before he talked about amalgamation and fede- 
ralism, to have remembered the celebrated letters tf General Jackson, now 
his candidate, written to Mr. Monroe, pressing him to extinguish the mon^ 
ster party ;— yes, and pressing him to put a /ff/fj-a/ gentleman in his Cabi- 
net. But Mr. Monroe refused to do either. Yet, he can charge the Admi- 
nistration with amalgamation, and with appointing Federalists! The pre- 
sent Administration is composed of Republicans. Every member of the 
Cabinet is a staunch Republican. They have been tried — in all the party 
conflicts of their times, they have taken conspicuous parts, and they have 
always proved true, and are yet true. Another singular assumption, made 
by the gentleman is, that the Federalists all support the Administra- 
tion. If this were matter of any consequence, as to the effect it would have 
upon the principles and measures of the Administration, I would refer him 
to the gentleman from Maryland, [Mr. Dorsey,] who ought to know, and 
who says, on the publication of General Jackson's letter, recommending to 
Mr. Monroe to exterminate the monster party, that the great body of the 
JFederalists went over to the (ieneral, where they have ever since been.— - 
We all know, that Col, Timothy Pickering, of Federal memory » and the 



m 

head of the old Federal party, is oppnscd to Mr. Adams, and, I presume, is 
now to be touiid in th^t gtntlcnian's [Mi. S'^] ranks. 

VVc have heard, too, a great deal about combin.iiions and coalilinns, im- 
puted to the Picisident, tlie Secretary ot Stit<-, and, 1 btiicve, ihf Adtiimis- 
tration generally. The President and his Cabinet are uniting their tfi >rts, 
and endeavours, to serve and promote the best and dearest interests ot the 
counti) : if they be called a coaliiion, it is a conslilulional one. If they be- 
s;iid to be combined, it is to afford all the streni^th of their minds and their 
energies, for the faithful discharge of public duties. If they be called a 
combinaiion or coalition tor any other view or purpose, it will not be true. 

But, Sir, what sort of a combination is this we liear of? If it be true, that 
such a letter was written, and the extrart he correct which *«'e fina in the 
Richmond Whig, we havs high and undoubted evidence of a couibinai ion 
forming, and to be formed, for the promotion of the election of General 
Jackson. The gentlemen have introduced newspapers on their side. It is 
a newspaper su'iject. Newspaper proof is just as good on one side as the 
other. It is onl) taking gentlemen on tlieir own ground. But, if it be a true 
extract that the editor has published, we have the high and undoubted autho- 
rity of a member of this House, whose veracity and honour no one will pre- 
sume to question, that " the combinations for effecting the elevation of Geo., 
Jackson are nearly complete." 

If this be true, does it become gentlemen to charge the Administration 
with combinations or coalitions, or any body else ; and they ought to re- 
member, that often repeating those charges adds nothing to their truth — 
they were unfounded in the beginning — they .viil be so to the end, repeat 
them as often as they may. The lives and characiers of the men who com- 
pose the Administration, are not to be affected by mere suspicion, existing 
only in the heat and zeal of the opposition. 

If gentlemen are in earnest, when tney sptat coufideinly uf the election 
of their can. liflate, where is thenetessity oftuese combinations to effect 
wiiat they confidently anticipate ? Or is it not rather lO be apprehended, 
that they have despaired of the success of their cause, and theiefore it is, 
that they are driven t form combinations. If they believed Cieneral Jack- 
son .vould be elected, and that he ought to be elected, would they not rely 
upon their judgments, or, at least, upon the justice of their cause for the re- 
sult ? No combinations would then be necessary : but if they really believe 
that the people are against him ; and, moreover, that be ought not, fur the 
interest of the country, to be elected ; then, in order to defeat the will of 
the people, and th'vart the measures of the Country, some steps may be 
necessary to be resorted to ; and in such cases, and to promote such pur 
poses, combinations are the engines generally made use of to produce sue 
cessful results to the designs of the few who shall be engaged in it. Does s. 
good cause require combinations ? 

If gentlemen in the opposition, have in view the promotion of the public 
interest, in the election of General Jackson, let them lay their views and 
pleasures before the people, and let the people decide. There is no dangci- 



30 

but the people wili decide correctly. If the measures of this Administra 
tion are wrong, and they propose better measures in lieu of 'hem, the peo 
pie will decide for ihem. But, if thtir measures and objects cannot bear 
open day investigation, or if they have no measure in view, but are solely 
aiming for power, then, truly, their cause is such a one, as requires " Com- 
binations" to force it upon the Country. 

The present Admiiustration relies, for the support of the people, upon 
their principles and their measures. It is upon the people this Administra- 
tion relies and not upon a party. Combinations cannot have their reliance, 
it seems to me, upon the people, but rather on their adroitness in inventions 
and management to control the people ; and the whole reliance of any Com- 
bii.aUon hiust be upon a party, a combined party. Combinations, to pull 
down and to put up men, never did, in my opinion, and never will, act with 
reference to the pubhc good. Their objects, their views, are all absorbed 
in individual promotion. I am therefore opposed to Combinations. If this 
Administration do not manage public afF..irs well, it will need no Combina- 
tion to put them out; if the) do manage well, and show they are faithful to 
their trusts, I do not see that the Country is to be benefited by Combina- 
tions to oust them, especially as we do not exactly perceive all the objects 
of the Combination. I have always been suspicious of Combinations. They 
are sometimes dangerous things in any Country, and never can be necessary 
for good purposes, in a Country where the people are free. 

But how can the gentlemen in the opposition reconcile what they profess 
to believe, viz. that their Candidate is the Candidate of the people; and will 
therefore be elected, with the necessity of a Combination.'' If the first be 
true, the last cannot be necessary ; if the last be necessary; the former can- 
not be so; no men are going to put themselves to extraordinary pains and 
trouble and expense, to effect an object which will be effected without them. 
Combinations to elevate indii-irlu^ls are not apt to stop, in their grasp af- 
ter power, to consider what is right or what is wrong. Their object is suc- 
cess. The public good is always a secondary object, if it forms or comes 
■within the scope of their considerations at all; and the peace and harmony, 
and prosperity and happiness of tiie Country, will have but little share in 
their deliberations, if they should ever be thought of. So you will perceive. 
Sir, from my opinion of Combinations, that I am altogether opposed to them, 
nor do 1 believe the people will take any particular fancy to them, nor look 
upon them as at all necessary to guard their rights or to govern tnem. 

The gentleman from North Carolina, takes occasion to drag into this 
debate, the Panama Mission, in order to inform us, that he had no confidence 
in the President, and that he wished the House upon that occasion to ex- 
press a want of confidence, and that they did do so, by a vote on a certain 
resolution. It was unnecessary for him to have referred to that case to 
afford us evidence that he is in the opposition ; he has given sufficient proof 
of tlie fact, on the present occasion — and as to the resolution he speaks of, 
it was voted out by a large majority, and is consigned to the " tomb of the 
cajjulets" — where every attempt of party purposes, toth^vart the interests 
of the Country, or to affect an individual, ought to follow. He said too, I 



31 

will here remark, that the gentleman from Ohio, (Mr. Wright) was the 
editor'of atpapt- r in ISOO or 1801. He must indied, have been quite a smart ^ 
bov to have edited a newspaptr at seventeen He happens to be mistaken 
in the fact, and he is mistake:; too, in supposing that that gentleman intro- 
duced the subject of the Post Office Contracts, to screen the Secretary; that 
subject can have nothing to do with the Secretary except in the gentlemans 
imagination. I will not say it is the case with that gentleman, but very 
certain it is, that there are some, who are in the habit of ascribing to the 
Secretary, almost every thing that is done or that happens. It would indeed 
seem that some persons suffer their minds to be very n)uch troubled by 
this " bold and daring" man's image, as the gentleman frcm North Carolina 
has railed hun. But, Sir, neither the Secretary nor his friends ever 
sought to inculpate any one or thought it necessary to do so, to shield him. 
His conduct needs no shield, but that of truth and justice. 

We have heard much of the course of Mr. Jefferson during this debate ; 
no man better understood the management of public affairs, so as to carry 
on the Government smoothly. — I believe it is admitted on all hands, that he 
neither retained in public employment nor put into office, any person, who 
was not disposed to do justice to his Administration, and I think he was 
perfectly right — and if there be any blame imputable to this Administration, 
it is because it has not dismissed from public employment, every one that 
abuses and misrepresents its motives and acts, and secretly plots its des- 
truction. 

It has occurred to me to correct a small errour which has not been no 
ticed. The gentleman from North Carolina, set out with saying that the 
Secretary had made sixteen changes in tne papers to print the laws — if he 
means for the two years he has been in office, it may be right ; I can make 
out but ten in the return scm lu lUio Uoucu lact S<.3Qiuii — iio»v manv changes 
have been made this Session, I do not know. 

To use an expression, which fell from a gentleman on the other side, we 
have indeed " fallen on evil tiiiies," when honest and honourable men can- 
not speak openly, the honest convictions of the'.r minds, without bringing 
down on them the vengeance and detraction of the ojiposition prints. My 
allusion is more especially to Governor Tyler, of Virginia, who, for writing 
a letter to Mr. Clay, approving his course, has incurred the displeasure 
and the animadversions of the leading print at Richmond. I will take occa- 
sion, again, to refer to a newspaper. Governor 'lyler, in speaking of this 
letter to Mr. Clay, says, " It is then perfectly true, that I wrote to Mr. 
Clay, in the spring of '25. It is also true, that I approved of his course, 
growing out of the Presidential Election, and concurred with him, most em- 
phatically, in the result of his vote. It is equally so, that I esteemed Mr. 
Adams as decidedly better qualified for the Presidency than Gen. Jackson, 
and that I would have voted for him, after Mr. Crawford's chance of suc- 
cess was over. To this effect 1 wrote to ^Ir. Clay, in terms of peifect 
frankness." 

In another part of the same letter, Governor Tyler says " The fact is 



LBAg'lO 



Qhtleniable.that a majority of the Electoral College of Virginia, if Mr. Craw- 
ford had hetn removed by the hand of death, would have voted for Mrl 
AdHn>'<, / assert it fearlessly." 

For n riling the letter to Mr. Clay, which is described in the extract 
I have read, this distinguished man, who is noA Governor of that State, ims 
been, it heems, assailed by the Enc] lirer ; — and is this the ttmper of the 
opposition ? that an honest man cannot fearlessly express his honest convic* 
lions without censure! (Governor Tyler, in this same letter, speaks of the 
irespecii.bility of that jjrint-:— if he had been apprized of a fact kno>vn here.it 
would not have added much to the credit of the Editor in his or any one else's 
opinion. S )me time ago, I saw a publication in that prmt, purporting to be 
a letter from a member of Congress, in whicb the writer stated, that he had 
just then returned from the President's, where he had been. It was New* 
year; and he had been in the East room of the house, and he spoke of it as 
most splendidly furnished out of the twenty -five thousand dollar appropria- 
tion of the last Session. Now every member of this House does know, that 
riot one cent of that ttioney has been drawn from the Treasury, and every 
man and woman, boy and girl, who was at the President's on New Year, 
knows that there was no furniture ir> the room except a few old chairs, and. 
an old settee or two, altogether worth but a very few dollars. Now it is 
impossible, in my mind, that any membor of Congress could have written 
Slich a Itcter; I have no thought or beliet any member did write it. The 
EJitor has been so credulous as to suffer himself to be iirtposed on by some 
sliionymous writer, or he has wittingly imposed it on his readers; what could 
have been the object for the publication of such a letter I cannot conceive, 
unless it was to add to that excitement which had already been created 
there against the President. 

1 put It to the wuiiu lo nay, \i a f^od «au3c can require the indiscrimi- 
nate abuse of all who dare speak the honest truth. Gentlemen talk about 
gagging presses; what would they call such an attempt as that made on 
the Governor of the Ancient Dominion, (and it is not him only on whom such 
attempts are made) but to deter honest men from speaknig the truth; a good 
tause, never requu'ed the truth to be sdenced. A bad cause seldom proves 
Successful, unless truth can be obscured, intimidated, bti.t n out of counte- 
hance or driven out of faSliion, Let the people look to these lhi:ig'-, lest 
the> be led astray, by the violence of abuse, and the nidulgence of niisrep' 
resentation, which we every day witness m certain prints. 

In conclusion I will remark, that the apolog\ f)r the time I have occu- 
pied and the subjects to which my obsei valiuns have extended, will be found 
in the course ana character of the debate, which gentlemen on the other 
^ide, have thought proper to indulge. I conceive I have not travelled beyond 
them— I have felt it due to the occasion, and to t:iese patriots and Statesmen 
who I believe to be faithfully administering, the executive UepartmLiu of 
bur Government. I liave felt it due to tl-ie Cduse of trutn and to the cause of 
my Country to offer the remarks I have made. 

And it liie motion to amend the resolutions by sinking out the Cciiae part 
of jtjShall prevail, I shall have no objection to its passage, 

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LIBRARY OF congress' 



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